THE LATE MR BARCLAY.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13653, 23 July 1908, Page 2

THE LATE MR BARCLAY.

AX IMPttKSSIVK Fl-'XIHiAI

The mortal remains <■! ihe-l.ev. U-orge Baielav were internd in the Wanna.-* (Jeineterv afumoon, villi ai-t-Tidam. ici-tuiouitii and an alf.ii'lauce ol 01.l friend* floiiJ ».,=i ol l.he public 01 the . district, thai. te,t.lied in :i manner unmistakable ilie high «<«■■' ■n which 11k* deceased gentleman was held iti .South C'antcl bI».V. Nor »au th.i. all. Hii> reputation as. a |)lil)iic man, and Ins influence aiilt/privats ciuzeii, w,iv imown in the receipt by hii> w>n» <-l a .-heal ol Ictltris ami ichgiams from—lo name lite vxuvm-s only—Auckland u> RiverUm. Among this elahis of Rulimoiiies oi pergonal arnl social esteem weie lelegramu of condolence irom ihe I'rinie Minister and Lady Waul, the Minister of kjduca.ion, of I'ub.ic Works, and of Labour; from ilie of lHe Jlotlue ot Repiesemaiiv..s, (turn the local and many oilier MiinitLis cf both Hoiisii of Parliament, liom iinn.i.leis of •{he I'le.-.byleriau Lhtiieti in many pariti of .he colony, ificaiding l lie i'.ev. \V. tJillio.-, now of Tanranga; from ministers, tif oilier ileiiominalioi..* al.-o, the V en. Aieh.Lacou llitr{H-r amciig limn, and from ilie Xiiiiaiu Roys" High .School, and from a liosi of private llieiidi; of the deceased and hiss fainilv. Muuv liawlHome wieaihs were miU, so many "ih.it ilie coflin in ihe. bean.- wan covrVed by only some cf them, and others were caiiieil in another vehicle. .Some were sent, by pergonal i'rienda, others by public or semi-public bodin,, viz., Wainiaie church ol'ncel'S, Chaluielii church oflicer>, S.C. Kducalioii l'.oaid, ofliceis- .i.f unit. Hoard, Wainme County Council: u-acheis of the- Waimate Ii.H.S., pupi.ii of the school, utarf of rhe Girls' High School, Innaiu; Brethren of St. Angustilled Marine • Lodge, _ YVainiale., etc. Letters of condolence Were sent by the fivmiieiiL of ihe S.U. Educational Institute ; lemuka, Waililalailai, i'leaiiant r/oiul, Winchester, and oilier school stafiu. The Minister of Kducalioii in his telegram bairt, "A riian of grea.. ability aiid of public teivice, has been lowt by the death .of lie v. U. Barclay."

The funeral was arranged to leave the. lesidtnce of i)r Barclay for the I'resbyt.rtian Church, near by, where part of i he funeral service was held, anil then ihe cortege. \v'ju> reformed with some matteEipt at marshaling its components lor the journey to the cemetery. The cofJtn, a, handsome one of polished kauri, was borne, by old friends,- meet, or all, of them nominated by deceased himuelf. They weie, Messrs R. A. Chishoim, Mr Ban-lay's iinst friend in Tiinaru; Mr A. Cowan, an old Mackenzie Couiury fiiend ; Mr Alex. Sinclair, an ofiice b.arer of (.'halmers 'Church and an old friend ; Mr J. G. Cow, Chief Inspector of Schools; Mr B. It. Macdonald, Geraldine (High School Board), and Mr J. Coriigan, luie of VVaikakahi. The Bresbyterian Church was crowded for the funeral service—it holds about 2t>o—and many were unable to get in. 'l'll* Prttibyteiy of Tiniaru was Weil icpiv.sent.ed at tne service—there being live of its seven ministerial members present — Revs. A. S. Morrison, Waima.te (Moderator), T. Siinson, Trinity, A. B. Todd, Geraldine, J. G. Chappie, St. Andrews, and J. It. Dickie, Waiiaki. After the hymn "For ever with Ihe Lord" liad been sung, the Rev. T. Stincon iead St. Paul's argument for immortality (I Cor. xv.), and Rev.' A. J. Morrison then pronounced an einogiuut on the deceased. TJiey were met, lie- .said, to pay the hint tribute of rtspect to pin* well known, not only in the neighbourhood, ami in South Canteibnry, but-in t-ome respects throughout New .Zealand; the pioneer of Prexbyterianism in South Canteibtuy, who left Home- imbued \vi h nigh aims, which would have taken him, to the great mission field of India had net his health forbade. God"s providence decreed- that he should come to New iCealand, and on the Brh of March, 1565, he «;.i» ordained at Christ church, uis minister for South Canteibury, territory reaching liom the Kangitata' to the Waitaki, and from tiie J'acilio ocean to the Southern Alp*. In those days there were no road's, the rivers were tuibridged, and the pioneer minister oiten had to crca. the latter when swollen by, Hoods, under circums.ances that compelled him to carry hie life in hits hand*. Many of these who had gone to spread the Gtspel hi heathen lands had not had to .suffer the hard. hi[.s or face the dangeis which had befallen ■ the deceased in the early days of-his niinictry. And Mrs Barclay -had told lain that her husband' never complained of the dangers or of" lhe arduous duties he was called upon io perform. He was self-forgetful, even to the point of rashness, aa when he crossed the (Jpibi, in a. swollen condition and lest one of his pair of horses by drowning, after standing up to his middle in the water for tome time, holding up the horse's head and trying to extricate/ it from.. some entanglement which threw it down in the water. One horse being drowned he mounte'd the other and rode away tw the place, appointed for a service as "if netting had happened. The New iiealander of tlte present day. did not sufficiently, honour the pioneer who blazed out the tracks for succeeding generations; buii » they did honour them to some extent was proved by: the presence of so large .;' gathering there that -day. It was unnecessary to enter into much detail regarding the life of the deceased; through tha newspapers and otherwise and by fireside talks, the details of Mr Barclay's woik had been discussed and its great value appreciated.. He need only mention his deep and wide interest in the cause of education; it was his pride to have aided in developing and spreading a, sound system of education among the macs of the people. He 'might mention too his raie facility in the acquisition of .knowledge* which led him to make excursions into every field of research. In personal leminiiscence Mr Morrison mentioned that as the local minister, js was his duty and • liis privilege to be associated with the deceased to the closing', weeks'of. his life, and he could bear testimony to the earnest intierest he to the last took in the. progress of the Uospel of 1 Jesus Christ, iind to the pleasure he expressed on liear-. ing of any mark of progress; he showed that this was the deepest interest he had in the world, though like many other men of deep • feelings, he had rather nought to veil than to display, it. He would not undertake to say that ihe Rev. Mr Barclay's character was harmonious in every detail; but who among them would like to be tried by the test of absolute perfection It wati enough thai* so many old colonists, many of them white-haired men, had gathered together that day from far and near to show their reverence for the, man they knew as a minister of the gospel in the old days, when he and they were young and in liheir primt: together, and .who remembered his manly courage, and'his great, even heroic, exertions for the spread in this new country of the goj-pel of Jesus Christ. , He prayed that this service might be the means of arousing others to a recognition of their divine duties and privileges. Rev. A. B. Todd engaged in prayer and the service was concluded by the organist playing the "Dead Maieh." The coffin was then placed in a hearse, and a.procession was marshalled, as previously arranged, as follows :—Chief mourners, Mr A. Barclay M.i'., Br Barclay, and Master Barclay; members of Presbytery (above named); members and officers of the Board of Education (Messrs J. Jackson, Hamilton, Howard, Lyall, Gow and Bell); Timaiu High School Board .-(Mesi-iB B- B- Macdonald, Bell and Simmers); Waimate . High I School Governors and Staff (Messrs Graham, Pitcaithly and others); Waimate County Council; Waimate Borough Coun- « cil; Members of St. Augustine Masonic I

Lodge; South Canterbury Teachers (Mr Menzies, president of ihe S.C. Educational Institute, Mr McLeod, Temuka-, and others; iSundav School and HiM.nct High School pupils; the general public, on foot and in vehicles. The cortege com : prised several hundred persons. Among them wera other local clergymen, Rev. Faiiher Aubrev, Rev. M. Gibson, Rev. V. VV. Fairdou S h, Rev. J. Harris, and also a number of old friends from Timaru and brvond, including the Mayor of Tiiuaiii, ileitis R. JJavie, J. .Siiachan, W. •)- Black, J. ,Scott, J. Mair, T. D. Young, and old Geraldine friends in Messrs A. MacKenzie and W. Satterwaite. A shotier in th-' forenoon had made the road a; little sloppy, but the weather was fino overhead. Arrived at the cemetery, the service heidde the grave was concluded by the Rev R. Dickie and Rev. A. S3. Morrison, the large concourse of peopla standing in reverent attention around the grave, while the last recital and last prayer and exhortation were i>-iven over Ihe remains of one who. j as evervone agreed, had been an outstanding personality in his day and generation.